Pokémon Emerald Nuzlocke: Storm of the Ages
by TanktheAggron
Summary: A Pokémon Emerald Nuzlocke Challenge, with a bunch of story and stuff added. When 17 year old Jim Ironwood moves to Hoenn, how does he react when he finds himself pushed into a journey he never wanted to have? Simple. He takes the challenge head on.
1. Prologue: A Major PissOff

**Prologue: A Major Piss-Off**

_Location: Johto Region, Goldenrod City, 386__th__ Street_

_Date: June 10__th__, 2035_

"Guess what, son! We're moving!"

Never in my entire life did I think I was going to hear such a thing. To say I was shocked would be an understatement. To say I didn't even really care would be a lie. To say anything aside from the fact that I was pissed would be silly.

My name is Jim Ironwood, 17-year-old son of Norman and Alexia Ironwood. I was born in the same house I live in now, a nice, large house, with a lot of Pokémon-related items throughout. Much to my dismay, I should add. I never did like Pokémon; I always found them pointless and a mere waste of time. It certainly doesn't help that most of my Dad's time was taken up by those stupid things.

My Dad works as a Gym Leader assistant in the Normal-Type Gym here, all he does is help train that guy, Rick Alistair, and he also helps out in the training of Rick's (admittedly, quite nice looking) daughter, Whitney. When he does get back home from work, all he does is pester me about going out on a journey like he did with my Mom years ago. I always say no.

Since I didn't go out on my journey when I was 10 like nearly 80% of the other kids did, I used to go to school. Due to what is now about to happen, I'm not going to be going to school anymore. That honestly pisses me off. I want to graduate and get a degree, not be stuck in some other region for whatever reason.

The worst part about this whole ordeal is that my Dad thought it'd be a great idea to give me one of the Pokémon often used as a starter in the region we are going to, 'Hoenn'. This little bastard, a relaxed green thing called a Treecko, was nicknamed 'Gladius'. Don't know what the hell they were thinking when they named it that, all I overheard was that it was in reference to one of its 'evolutions', or whatever they call them.

Gladius always seems to lay back and take everything slow, contrasting to how I try to get everything done as soon as possible. He'll be my only company on the way there – in order to save space; my parents decided that I'd be fine in the back of an Arceus-damned truck. As if I wasn't pissed enough, I'll have to actually speak to the little bugger. They packed away everything else I could use to pass the time.

All I can tell is that this is going to be one hell of a long ride…

* * *

><p><em>1 Day Later…<em>

_Location: Hoenn Region, Littleroot Town, Approaching my new home_

_Date: June 11__th__, 2035_

Thank Arceus for the miraculous invention stuck on my wrist; a Pokémon-English Translator. I swear, if I didn't have it, I wouldn't know shit about what Gladius was saying. At first, it consisted of him calling me a fool, and me calling him an annoyance, but over that long as hell ride, I guess we've kind of warmed up to each other.

"So, are you going to stay in your Pokéball?"

He shook his head. He quickly jumped on my shoulder, and obviously decided that my shoulder was the best place for him at the moment.

Suddenly, I heard a loud screech, and some doors, including the truck's back door, open. I finally saw some damn light after this long trip. I quickly jumped out of the truck, nearly sending Gladius flying off of my shoulder. I saw my Mom standing outside of the door to our new home. It was a lot smaller than the old home. The town was also a lot smaller than I thought it would be. The house was at the end of a street, with a single house to its right. There were more houses in the distance, but mostly in small clusters. I was amazed at how much empty space there was.

"We're here!" my Mom cheerfully said. She quickly looked my way, and asked, "Why don't you go up into your room, and get everything set up, dear?"

Having nothing better to do, and not being particularly keen on sitting around and twiddling my thumbs while staring off into the distance, I decided to go inside and towards my room.

When I entered, I saw a bunch of Vigoroth moving boxes around the place. It seemed pretty nice, to be completely honest. Not taking any further looks around, I quickly ran upstairs, Gladius still holding dominion over my left shoulder. I dashed to the end of the hall, locating my bedroom. It was fully unpacked, with my TV and GameCube set up against one wall, my desk, chair and PC set up in the far corner, and my nice comfy bed in the middle of the room.

I was admittedly, quite impressed. The wood floor looked wonderful, and the crimson paint that was on the walls made the place look even better! I quickly got my journal out and stuck it on my desk, and went to my PC. I noticed some new e-mail from my Dad, who apparently was already out on his way to his new job. I still don't know what the job is, but I heard it pays well.

In the e-mail was an item that I quickly transferred out; a potion. The e-mail said that it was there in case Gladius got hurt, although I had my doubts. I looked through my e-mails further, deleting all the spam and junk. I found another one, about one from a 'Professor Birch'. He apparently sends it to everyone, and it was about joining the Pokémon League, which was already answered 'No' about a million times, and that even if I didn't want to participate, if I had a Pokémon, I should probably take it to see him, for reasons I was too lazy to read.

I figured now was as good as ever, but before I left to go and meet this Professor, I decided to check out the map that my Dad gave me. It was well detailed, and explicitly showed all of the major towns and cities, as well as all the routes. There was a note about it being 'perfect for trainers', which I figured was just my Dad trying to pester me into it even when he was at work. I sighed. I hated how he did that.

Gladius had been spending the whole time I was in my room on my bed, lazing around like he was a damn Slakoth. I wasn't surprised, that's what he always did. I decided to fix up the clock on the wall, ensuring that it was at the right time. Fortunately, that took very little of my now precious time.

I called over Gladius, and bolted down the stairs, only to be stopped by my mother calling me over into the living room, "Jim! Jim! Your father is here on TV!"

"What?" I replied, changing my direction and instead heading towards the TV. I couldn't believe it, why was my Dad on TV?

"And that concludes our report on the newest Petalburg Gym Leader," the news lady stated, "Now back over to you, Roy, for our weather forecast!"

I stared over at my mother, who decided that now was finally the time to tell me what Dad's new job was. "You see, dear, he's now the Gym Leader of Petalburg! That's why he was so keen on moving," she told me, "it's a pity that we didn't get to see the report…"

I was amazed. Was my Dad really a Gym Leader? I felt almost selfish for what had happened yesterday in my mind, thinking that my Dad was the one who was selfish. It was his lifelong dream, after all, to own a Gym, and it would certainly help pay off university, so it was a great idea, now that I think about it.

I decided to tell my Mom that I was going out to check out the lab, to which she merely shrugged, figuring I wanted to get it checked out. She continued watching TV as I walked out the door. I was lucky, the lab was literally right across the street from our house. I got over to the door, and knocked, hoping that the response would be immediate. Much to my surprise, it was. However, I didn't see Professor Birch, I only saw his assistant.

"Where is the Professor?" I inquired, hoping for a bit of insight.

He responded quickly, "I don't know, all I know is that he left the Pokémon he was planning on taking here. I'm getting a little worried." He looked at Gladius, who now was on the ground near my leg, and then looked back at me, asking, "Could you possibly go and check on him? I can't leave the lab, and without his Pokémon, I'm getting worried for him and his daughter."

My inner pervert getting the better of me, I immediately asked, "How old is she?" to which he simply gave me a look that told me that I shouldn't be asking such a question. I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment, deciding to cut my losses, and instead, ask, "Anyways, where should I be going?"

He pulled a small local map out of his pocket and pointed to a location north of us. "Check around there."

I shrugged and called Gladius back onto my shoulder. I speedily jogged out of the lab and, shortly after my exit, broke out into a full on sprint towards the start of 'Route 101'. No way in hell would I let a potentially nice looking girl escape my grasp!

When I finally reached the southern end of the route, I saw a middle-aged man in a lab coat with brown hair and cheesy facial hair, who seemed to be scared out of his wits. He was desperately searching his bag for something, and I also heard a thing growling at something else.

"COME ON DAD! TORCHIC IS ALREADY KNOCKED OUT!"

Whoever that was, my attention was brought towards them. I couldn't see them, but I could see the brown furry creature with murder in its beady little eyes. I ran over and noticed what it was growling at; an amazingly hot girl! I knew I was going to regret what I was about to do, but I figured that it was better than watching a beautiful girl get mauled by a little brown thing.

Motioning for Gladius to get off of my shoulder and onto the ground, he decided to do so with a bit of perk in his step. I was amazed, I never saw him move so fast. I quickly pulled a heroic-looking pose, and pointed at the foul creature. Gulping, I decided that this was only for the best.

"Go Gladius!" with that, the brown creature stared at me, directing its menacing gaze towards Gladius and I. The middle-aged man and the hot girl looked at me as well.

The creature started hissing at my relaxed Wood Gecko Pokémon, "ZIGZAGZIG!"

"Treeeecko!" was the response he gave, getting ready to kick some ass.

"Okay… here goes! Gladius! POUND IT INTO SUBMISSION!"

* * *

><p><strong>Okay then. That is the first chapter all done and good. I'll start describing the appearance of Jim soon, but keep in mind I don't like the look of 'Brendan' too much, so imagine Jim to be closer to 'Red'.<strong>

**R&R, I don't care if you like it or hate it, tell me how to improve, and I'll try my best!**

**Also, DAMN! This seems a lot shorter than it looked on MS Word.  
><strong>


	2. Chapter I: A Fighting First!

**Chapter I: A Fighting First!**

_Location: Route 101, just outside of Littleroot Town_

_Date: June 11__th__, 2035_

"Okay… here goes! Gladius! POUND IT INTO SUBMISSION!"

* * *

><p>The Wood Gecko Pokémon looked at its master, now 'trainer' and nodded, signalling that it was more than ready to kick some serious ass. After all, its father, father's father, and its father's father's father were all champion-defeaters. It was only natural that combat was in its blood.<p>

The Zigzagoon looked onwards towards Jim and Gladius, blood staining its teeth from when it attacked the eye candy that was behind it. It snarled at the Treecko, as if to tell it that the meal of human was his.

Gladius shook his head in disgust. How dare this insolent fool think of harming, never mind EATING a human? He would have to deal out punishment accordingly.

The stare-off was tense, neither side wanting to display a single sign of weakness. The air was so thick with anticipation you could cut it with a knife and slather it on your toast. Finally, the tenseness was broken with-

"DAMNIT WHY DON'T YOU TELL YOUR POKEMON TO ATTACK YOU IDIOT?" the pretty girl screeched, to which Jim recoiled in shock. He didn't quite expect such an outburst.

"S-s-sorry, miss," he stuttered, not wanting to piss off something so nice looking. He decided against checking her out for now, instead tightening his focus on the battle. He looked at Gladius again, and with a commanding voice, said, "Gladius! Use pound!"

Leaping into the air, Gladius spun around to gain sufficient momentum to cause significant injury to the Tiny Racoon Pokémon. The speed at which he was moving was too fast for the poor furry thing to comprehend, and as soon as it understood what was happening…

*BWAP*

The Zigzagoon went flying to the side, into a bush, where it quickly regained its footing and charged out into a full on tackle. However, Gladius expected this, and dodged last moment, spinning forward whilst smacking the stupid furry beast across the back of its skull. An audible crack was heard, and a bit of the Tiny Racoon's head seemed to be 'deflated'.

"Zaag… Goon…"

"That's what you get for attacking people you foul twit!" Jim yelled, attempting to sound as heroic as possible. Sure, he had to win a battle, but how could he only focus on that when there was a girl to impress? He was just about to utter another command, but…

"ZIGZAGOOOON!" it yelled as it smashed head first into Gladius, who yelled in pain. It clearly injured him a bit, but he shook it off. With a nasty look on his face, and his stubby fingers balled up into fists, he leered at the thing, which was caught slightly off guard by the balls that this Treecko had.

"Damnit! Okay then, Gladius, its asking for this. Use another pound attack, but keep on using it until it's out!"

Dashing up towards the foe, Gladius unleashed a devastating barrage of pounds via its tail, smashing the poor creature around.

The man who I now deduced to be a Professor spoke, "Sir, you do realize the thing is slightly crazy, and isn't going to stop unless you… use…" he noticeably gulped prior to finishing his sentence, and looked down at his feet, "nearly lethal force."

"WHAT?"/"TREECKO?"

Both of us were astounded. 'Heh, this is going to be a little harder than I thought,' Jim thought to himself.

"However, it does appear that the little thing is already close to such a thing. A nice well aimed pound would surely knock it out. Just try not to be too hard," the Professor continued, "okay?"

"Alright! You heard him, Gladius! FINISH HIM!"

With a slick slide, the Wood Gecko quickly spun into a pound attack, knocking the noggin of the Zigzagoon one more time. It was out cold, nearly dead. The Professor ran over and scooped it up in his hands.

"Well, I'll be in at the Lab. I'll fix this Zigzagoon up properly, make sure it doesn't die or anything! See you at the lab later, sir!"

Jim watched as the Professor ran off. He huffed. He started to mumble, "Well then… not exactly how I was planning my first da-"

"Um… Hi there," the hot girl apparently had walked over to him, and was looking at him with a sweet smile on her face. "T-thanks for saving me there…"

"Don't mention it. I wasn't particularly keen on watching somebody get mauled by a little racoon thing," Jim quickly responded, with a smirk on his face. He smiled and held out his hand, saying, "The name's Jim. Jim Ironwood. Just moved here."

Her beautiful face smiled back, and she shook his hand. She then stated, "Nice to meet you, Jim. My name is Nicole Birch, daughter of Professor Raymond Birch, the most prestigious Pokémon Professor in the Hoenn. Sorry about calling you and idiot earlier, it's just that you were taking an awfully long time and…"

She started to ramble on. 'A good time to check her out, I guess,' he thought. Hell, she was even looking at the ground whilst rambling on. He started scanning her from bottom to top. She had some well-toned legs, and was wearing some biking shorts (which were quite tight and fit her very nice body quite well) and a white miniskirt on her lower body. As his eyes went above her hips, he noticed the hourglass shape her body had. He was certainly impressed, and ever-so-slightly aroused. She was quite… well-endowed, to say the least, and her somewhat-tight red blouse certainly left little to the imagination. He stopped his eyes there just long enough for…

*SMACK*

"MY FACE IS UP HERE DAMNIT!" she screeched. She was blushing heavily, and her normally sapphire eyes seemed to be glowing red.

"Hehehehe… um… sorry… it's just that…" Jim desperately tried to save face, but all his mind was filled with is way too inappropriate to state here.

She turned away from him sharply, and sighed. "Well… I guess you did save me and all… But still! Be glad that I'm not planning on holding that against you! See you at the lab…" she stated simply, storming off towards the lab.

Alas, her walking away from him just gave him a different view, not enlightenment. He smiled as his sight was a little too low for his Treecko's liking. A light smack later, his eyes were instead turned upon her head. She was a brunette, and had her hair in an interesting shape; an upside-down 'V', with a bandana going over the top of it.

He decided to walk over to the lab himself, while he dwelled upon the fact that he might've just blown it with the single hottest girl he's ever seen…

* * *

><p><em>Location: Littleroot Town, Pokémon Lab<em>

_Date: June 11__th__, 2035_

As he walked in the door, he caught notice of Nicole talking with her dad, and started to approach them.

"…look Nicole, I'm sure you're good enough fo-" he noticed Jim approaching and immediately shut up, recognizing that if he let what she had asked him slip, she would be very mad at him.

"Hello, Professor Birch. I'm Jim Ironwood, from Johto," he stated with a smile on his face. He looked slightly behind the middle-aged Professor and saw Nicole mirroring his expression, with her hands behind her back. 'Damn she's confusing. One moment she's ripping my head off, the next she's acting all shy,' he thought to himself, 'I'll never understand girls.'

Raymond Birch pulled out a small device, called a 'Pokédex', which seemed to be a fancy gadget that could do all sorts of things related to the Pokémon owned and seen by the person. He extended his other hand to greet Jim, kindly responding, "Pleasure to meet you, Jim. I'm Professor Birch, and I'm the regional Professor. I must say, you've got some great battling skills. How long you've been a trainer? How many battles have you won? How many Pokémon have you cau-"

After returning the handshake, Jim quickly interrupted, "Uh, sir, that was… kind of… my… uh…" he glanced around, as if he was being graded or something for his response. He cleared his throat, and finished, "That was my first battle. I've never liked Pokémon, and the fact that I even had one was because of my Dad."

Both Nicole and Professor Birch stared at him, yelling, "WHAT?"

"Uh… yeah… heh… I guess I did pretty well for my first battle, right Treecko?"

Treecko merely nodded approvingly. It looked up at Nicole, who apparently had recently healed her Torchic. He leapt down and decided to talk elsewhere with the Chick Pokémon.

"Well then… I guess you should try out for the Evergrande League, after all… You could make your Dad proud, right? Maybe meet great new friends, and win a lot of battles! How about this," he paused, handing the Pokédex to Jim, "as a personal favour from me, I want you to complete the Pokédex. Why don't you meet up with Nicole later, and then you can have a battle with her!"

"Uh…" Jim tried to respond, but was quickly cut off by an overly eager girl nearby.

"That sounds great daddy!" Nicole responded, a little too eagerly. She looked at Jim, and said, "Well Jim, see you there." She then proceeded to dash out of the lab to get her Torchic, 'Blazy', but not before throwing a wink Jim's way.

Jim blushed slightly at the implications of that, but quickly shook it off. With Pokédex in hand, Treecko on shoulder, and backpack on back, he decided to take off.

"TO OLDALE TOWN!"

* * *

><p><em>Location: Route 101<em>

_Date: June 11__th__, 2035_

Well, they say that the first is always the worst, which in this case, certainly was true.

Gladius was getting a hell of a work out, constantly having to beat up Poochyena that got too close and Wurmple that shot string at him and Jim. He managed to learn an interesting attack, one where he started to absorb the very life energy of the enemy! It was, according to the Pokédex, fittingly called 'Absorb'.

After a long walk, and very little interesting events short of Gladius beating up a Pokémon or absorbing its health, Oldale Town was finally reached. A fist pump and a few questions for directions later, Jim arrived at the Pokémon Center, just in time for the sun to finally go down. Rather than camp out, Jim figured it'd be better to get some rest in the Pokémon Center's comfortable and free rooms.

"Hello there, sir, what is your name?" a kind woman with pink hair inquired.

"Uh, my name is Jim, what's yours?"

"Obviously a rookie trainer," she muttered just low enough so Jim didn't hear, "I'm a Nurse Joy, and I'll take your Treecko there so it can be fully healed and prepared for tomorrow."

With a smile on his face, Jim quickly handed over Gladius, and decided to ask, "Where would I sign up for the Evergrande League?"

Nurse Joy handed him a clipboard and a badge case, the clipboard had a pen chained to it, with the clipboard being chained to the desk in turn. He quickly wrote his name down, and handed back the clipboard, taking the badge case.

"Thanks, miss."

He started to walk upstairs when he tripped and fell on somebody who was obviously about to travel downstairs. It was a girl, or a really fat guy. He could tell because things that are neither of the above don't have 'airbags'.

He was about to move, when he noticed who it was.

"Uh… hi Jim," Nicole said, looking at him in the eyes, "could you get off of me, because this is a bit awkward."

Quick to comply, he got up, uttering out a quick sorry and helping Nicole to her feet, he dashed off to his room. He did, after all, have some Tepig bacon to enjoy.

The rest of the night was uneventful. He literally could not wait for the next day…

But what will happen when he meets a rival worse than Nicole ever could be?

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes: So, first chapter done! HOOWAH! Not much to say here. Also, I lied about saying more about Jim's appearance. :P<strong>

**Don't kill me over that.**

**Please Read and Review!**

**Also, thanks Mix0r for pointing out my stupid mistake!  
><strong>


	3. Chapter II: Ups and Downs

**Chapter II: Ups and Downs**

_Location: Just north of Oldale Town_

_Date: June 12__th__, 2035_

"I can't believe I'm doing this…"

Jim Ironwood could not stop complaining, his body being used to traveling via wheeled vehicle, not via his legs. Gladius also voiced his displeasure, instead at the new trainer's constant whining.

It took them a long while to travel all the way north of Oldale until they would reach the forest-edge and the place where Jim heard that Nicole was doing some research. After having to deal tremendous amounts of pain and suffering to the various Pokémon that continually interrupted what would be an otherwise peaceful trip, Jim finally found Nicole.

She was using her Pokédex to scan a knocked-out Wingull, mumbling things to herself. Jim managed to catch a few words, like, 'average wingspan', 'deep blue lines', and a few other words describing the Wingull. He decided to interrupt her.

"Hey there!" he said, with confidence in his voice.

She shot up, startled. She seemed a little nervous, which was obvious in her tone, "Uh… hey Jim!" She started looking at her feet. For a person who at one point seemed capable of ripping off his head, she was quite a timid individual. "Well… I guess you are here… to… um…"

"Battle," Jim finished for her, "I'm here to battle you."

She looked at Jim with a smile planted on her face, then saying, "Sure, I'd love to!"

* * *

><p>Jim had never had an official battle between two trainers, so Nicole explained it all for him. It took quite a while, but he was finally ready.<p>

"Alright, ladies first!"

She waited for a bit, but then looked at Jim with a smirk, joking, "I'm waiting."

Jim narrowed his eyes, quickly retorting, "Very funny."

"Treecko…"

* * *

><p>After plenty of bickering, the two finally decided upon saying their moves at the same time, to prevent any insults being thrown or any easy gaining of the upper hand.<p>

"Gladius! Pound Blazy," Jim ordered whilst pointing towards the Torchic so that Gladius wouldn't get confused, "until she's down!"

Nicole shot a smile Jim's way, quickly responding with, "Blazy, when he gets close, scratch him! Don't stop!"

The battle was relatively simple, with Gladius leaping around and smacking Blazy upside the head with his tail, often with his weak flesh being torn at in the process. While Gladius did show outward signs of injury, like many scratches and bleeding wounds, Blazy's injuries were on the inside, with various bruises showing themselves from under the soft down feathers.

Not much was done by either trainer during the battle, except for the occasional words of encouragement, or quick glancing at each other. Jim was glancing at a part I'm sure many of you would if you were him, and Nicole was just staring at Jim as a whole. Jim wasn't entirely sure if she was checking him out or if she was just trying to see if he was going to pull any sneaky attack.

Truth is, he didn't frankly care – if she was checking him out, that was great because she'd like what she would have seen. He thought himself to be relatively muscular, and he did wear a short-sleeved shirt after all. Even if she wasn't checking him out, she'd not find any tricky strategy, because frankly, he had none.

After a lot of exchanged blows and injuries, the Chick Pokémon finally gave in and fainted. Treecko, after a short arm pump, calmly walked over to his Pokéball, while still bleeding, and pressed the button. He couldn't bleed to death if he was in a Pokéball!

"Um… that was… a…" Jim wasn't sure what to say. Sure, it was fun to watch, but he didn't really do anything. After some thought, and a confused look from Nicole, he finally finished, "Great battle. Yeah, it was a good battle!" He offered his hand.

She shook it, saying, "Indeed it was, Jim. Can't wait to battle you again!" After withdrawing her hand, she looked at the ground, obviously thinking about something. She even was mumbling to herself some stuff, though Jim couldn't hear. "You know what, how about we go back to the Lab together," she said, blushing lightly when she said together, "and then you could probably load up on Pokéballs and stuff…"

Jim had to hold back a snicker when he heard her say, 'load up on Pokéballs', but managed to keep a straight face. He decided to respond with a quick, "Sure."

They started the long walk back to Littleroot, discussing various things while jumping down ledges and going along paths. Most of the things discussed involved just where Jim was from, and what he did in Johto. They stopped in the Oldale Pokémon Center to heal up their injured Pokémon, and then continued on towards Littleroot.

* * *

><p>Eventually, they reached the lab, whereupon Jim decided now was a good time to be courteous to the hot girl, and opened the door for her. She nodded, quickly going through the door, as if she was trying to not speak, lest she say something she doesn't want to.<p>

After Jim got himself in, he heard her call for her dad. He was over relatively quick, much to Jim's surprise. He didn't think such a rotund man could move so damn fast. Jim muttered something about him being like a Snorlax under his breath. Luckily, it was unable to be heard.

"So, I guess you need some Pokéballs, Jim, don't you?"

Jim nodded, and was quickly handed five small balls. Jim knew that upon the first press of the button, they expanded in size, and upon the second, they opened up. Jim smiled, and then said, "Thanks, Professor. I better go off; I've got to go to Petalburg City as soon as humanely possible if I want to get in this Evergrande Conference for sure!"

After a few quick good-byes, Jim burst out of the Lab doors. He decided to go and tell his mom about his journey.

Not much of a deal was made, and some specialized running shoes were given to him. They were pretty nifty, but he didn't understand how some stupid shoes could make you faster.

You could say he found out…

Quite quickly.

* * *

><p>After practically flying through the dense grass in Route 101, with Gladius holding on for dear life, Jim finally stopped his dash. Taking a quick breath, he decided to get out one of his sandwiches, and some Aspear jam for Gladius. A few Orans slipped out of his bag, and so Jim decided to reach over to get them.<p>

"POOCH!"

Gladius tensed up, and quickly swallowed the glob of jam in his mouth. Jim quickly picked up the berries, and stuck them back in his backpack. Turning on his Pokédex, he quickly identified it as a Poochyena.

"Hey there, little guy!" The reply was a mere snarl. Jim, with smirk on face and Pokéball in hand, decided to catch him. "Go Gladius! Let's get this Poochyena!"

After a quick bop on the nose, the once bold Bite Pokémon was suddenly a hell of a lot more timid. It ran up to Jim and started to lick his shoe. Jim was, needless to say, completely perplexed by the sudden quirky motion done by this little greyish black Pokémon. Just lightly dropping the Pokéball on the ground, the Poochyena offered very little resistance.

Striking a victory pose, Jim shouted, "YES! I CAUGHT A POOCHYENA!" After letting it out of its Pokéball, he decided to give it a nickname. "How does Canis sound?"

"Poochy Pooch Ena!" it barked excitedly.

"Let's get to Oldale, it's not too much further…"

* * *

><p>After quickly running into the Pokémon Center of Oldale Town, and getting Canis and Gladius healed, Jim was walking towards the exit towards the next route.<p>

"Hey, idiot with the red vest!"

Alarmed at the obnoxious bastard who spoke, Jim looked around. He found an olive-haired guy. He had a nasty grin on his face. He was also leaning up against a tree.

"The name's Wally. I hear you're new around here, aren't you?" Jim nodded at the guy, but had a bit of a scowl on his face. 'Wally' decided to finish what he was saying, "Well, I hear that your dad's gonna get me a Pokémon. Or at least help me get one."

"Wouldn't be surprised…"

"That's a nice Treecko you got there, how much?"

Jim just stared at him. Did he just ask how much his friend was in terms of money? Did he want to BUY Gladius? With a nasty tone, Jim replied, "He's not for sale, Wally."

"Oh, a pity, a pity that he has to be stuck with such a pathetic trainer!" he sneered. The look on his face was pure nastiness.

"Shut up, you git. Now out of my way!" Jim quickly responded, with a very mean look on his face. He looked like he was prepared to beat the ever lying shit out of this 'Wally' guy.

But he wasn't done. Wally's sneer turned into a despicable grin, "Oh, and that busty brunette you were talking with earlier? I think she'd be way better with a man who could treat her nice well-toned 16-year-old rear right." He then snickered, if he hadn't he would've been prepared for the fist that was now in his face.

*BOP*

"SHUT. UP."

Jim quickly walked away from a hurt Wally, who had a bright red mark all over his face.

He didn't know why that offended him so much. Jim pretty much just brushed it off as personal want, but maybe… no. That was stupid.

"So Gladius, Canis, you ready to go and meet my Dad?"

"Treecko Ko Tree!" / "Yena Pooch Pooch!"

Jim, finding a new rival in Wally, was now going to travel through Route 102 towards Petalburg. What will he do when he finds out more about this Wally fellow, and what new companions will Jim meet?

STAY TUNED TO THE NEXT CHAPTER OF POKÉMON EMERALD: STORM OF THE AGES!

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes: Second Chapter complete! Now I can finally play the game again! Regardless, I have not much to say here, except that I hope you like how I've decided to portray Wally. He will be a rival, but he won't ever battle Jim until the end, since there is no major equivalent. Sorry if it seemed a little short. I really wanted to get playing further :P<br>**

**Again, I forgot to mention most of Jim's clothing AGAIN. At least I mentioned his vest!**

**Also, just in case you don't know, ages are: Wally = 18, Jim = 17, Nicole = 16.**

**Please Read and Review!**


	4. Chapter III: Meeting Again

**Chapter III: Meeting Again**

_Location: Start of Route 12_

_Date: June 13__th__, 2035_

After a nice quick sleep at the Pokémon Center, Jim was as ready as ever to get moving towards Petalburg. There was a somewhat large route – Route 102 to be precise – between Oldale Town and Petalburg City. With Gladius on his shoulder, all his stuff in his bag, and his newest capture, Canis the Poochyena, following him like a little dog, Jim was ready to get a move on.

There was a lot of idle chatter between the two Pokémon, primarily about the origins of Canis. Supposedly, he was the eldest of a litter of three, and didn't particularly like his brothers and mother. He once went to get them all some Zigzagoon meat, being that the normal one to get it – his father – was dead, but when he came back, he found them… being devoured by a rare and fortunately uncommon Linoone. Not wanting to be eaten as well, he ran for what seemed like days. The Linoone either didn't follow him in the first place or lost him by then. Shortly afterwards, he was caught.

"Well, that explains why you went over to the food!" Jim said. Canis nodded.

They weren't far into the place when suddenly…

"HEY, YOU! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A BATTLE!"

Jim just stared at the little kid. "Fine…"

* * *

><p>After a small amount of preparation, the match was on – Gladius versus the kid's Poochyena.<p>

"Poochy! Howl!"

Snickering at the poor guy, Jim decided to go and use his own nasty trick. "Gladius, suck the life out of him with absorb!"

With a quick nod, Gladius swiftly launched himself at the foe, and when within range, glowed a greenish hue. Small yellowish orbs started flying out of the body of the Bite Pokémon, going towards Gladius, and then exploding in a shiny blue flash. The Poochyena looked noticeably worse for wear, and the Wood Gecko Pokémon was now looking quite perky.

Even though his life was going out of him before his very eyes, the large ball of grey fur managed to let off a piercing howl, followed by a grunt of pain.

"Alright, Gladius, I want him finished quickly. Pound him, NOW!"

Before a command could even be uttered by the opposing trainer – a youngster in jean shorts and a t-shirt – Gladius flew towards the Poochyena whilst spinning, and quickly smashed him across the face.

"TREEEECKO!"

With a victorious look on his face, Gladius just stared at the struggling Poochyena. No matter how hard he tried though, he was just too weak to get up. With a resounding slam, he fell to the ground.

The kid looked pissed. "B-b-but how? HOW THE FUCK DID YOU DO THAT? HUH?" he yelled, giving a death glare towards Jim.

Jim laughed it off, saying, "How? I train my Pokémon. That's how." Canis and Gladius quickly nodded their heads in agreement.

Before taking even 3 steps away, the young trainer started dashing towards Jim, but was stopped by a greyish blur. Canis quickly growled at the stupid fool, and when the youngster tried to push him away, he bit his hand hard.

"OW OW OW OW OW!"

Never had Jim seen somebody run so damn fast. He smiled. This was turning out to be fun after all…

* * *

><p>"So, Canis, what type of food do you like? Meat?"<p>

Canis nodded happily. He LOVED meat. Especially Zigzagoon. He thought they were delicious.

Jim smiled, saying, "Then it's a good thing we have some Zigzagoon meat, isn't it?" He took out some Aspear Jam for Gladius and a few chunks of Zigzagoon meat for Canis, who barked in approval. He then took out a sandwich for himself. It was a BLT from Prim Norton's, where he also got a coffee earlier, prior to him leaving Oldale.

Suddenly, something little bumped into him.

It spoke telepathically, "Sorry, sir, if you could excuse me… I kind of have t-t-to…" the little green-helmeted thing looked up at Jim.

"Hi there," Jim said whilst taking out his Pokédex, getting a reading that this was a Ralts. He smiled, they were supposed to be rare! "Hey there little…"

"Girl," she finished for him, "most girls sound like girls, don't you find?"

Rubbing the back of his head in slight embarrassment, he continued, "Would you maybe like to come along with me on a journey?"

Shaking her head, Gladius noticed her. Leaping over towards her, he started speaking to the Feeling Pokémon.

"Treecko, tree treecko ckotree!"

"Hehehe… Oh stop it, you're making me blush!"

"Treeecko!"

She smiled, whilst blushing, and looked up at me, "He's part of your group, isn't he?"

Jim nods, smiling a bit, and giving a bit of a glare towards Gladius, deciding against scolding him for flirting with random Pokémon.

"In that case, I'll gladly join your group. The name's Domina, nice to meet you." She smiled, pointing at one of the Pokéballs on Jim's prized Pokéball-belt.

Throwing a Pokéball at Domina, she didn't even try to resist capture. He quickly sent her out of her Pokéball to help her get acquainted with the other member of his 'party' so to speak – Canis.

"Pooch, poochy ENA!" It gleefully licked the face of the new member, much to her dismay.

"Ugh… Please don't do that…"

Canis whimpered a bit, but put a smile back on his face and started wagging his tail again.

"So, why don't we continue eating our lunch… What do you eat, Domina?"

"Anything. What do you have?" She smiled graciously at Jim's kindness, before stealing a glance a Gladius.

Jim noticed this and grinned, making a mental note to bug Gladius about it later. He looked around his bag, and found a bit of Oran jam, and inquired, "You like Oran berries?"

She merely nodded, and Jim got her out the jar of Oran jam. She gave a blank expression towards the jar, and asked, "What, you expect somebody like ME to eat with my hands?"

After a short search, Jim got a spoon for the little Ralts, and they all ate their lunch happily.

* * *

><p>After plenty of grinding on various foolish trainers and wild Pokémon, the quartet finally arrived at Petalburg city. Jim was greeted by a girl in a rush running straight into him.<p>

"Ouch…" Getting off of his ass quickly, Jim decided to help the girl up.

He knew the sweet voice that then said, "I'm so sorry, sir, I-"

"Hello Nicole."

She looked up at Jim, and smiled, "Fancy seeing you here, where're you going?"

Returning the smile, he said, "Gonna challenge the gym, search around this city, you know, what normally people do upon reaching a new town! Also, I caught a Ralts, 'Domina'." And with that, he got Domina out of her ball. She looked at Jim, then Nicole, and smirked.

"Who's this, Jim? Your _giiiiiirlfrieeeeeend_?" the feeling Pokémon teased with a nasty grin on her face.

"Wha- no! Um we're… uh… just friends!" Jim quickly responded, almost as if he had something to hide. He also blushed a bit, but not nearly as much as Nicole did, who was nearly fire-truck-red with embarrassment.

Nicole then responded, "N-no I'm n-not his girlfriend!"

A short awkward silence followed.

In an attempt to break the awkwardness, Jim asked, "So, what've you been up to?"

Obviously happy that he was the one to break the silence, she responded, "Well, I met this one asshole named 'Bolly' or something like that," at this, Jim noticeably tensed up, "and he's quite a pervert too! If you want to go find him, he's at the Gym; I need to go do some more research on Zigzagoon…"

Relieved that Nicole was still free in terms of boyfriends, Jim said a quick goodbye, and set off towards the gym. He didn't believe the nerve of Wally, he only knew him for a day and he wanted to make his life miserable. Getting caught up in his own thoughts, he suddenly heard something pierce the silence of him walking towards Petalburg Gym.

"You like that girl, don't you?"

Looking down at Domina, he replied, "Yeah, she's a great friend. Hell, I've only known her for a few days and she's been nothing bu-"

"No, I mean you want to 'breed' with her."

This took Jim by surprise. He didn't expect the little Pokémon to say something like that. "Yeah- I mean no! I-I mean… ugh!" He was frustrated, what was he supposed to say?

"I'll take that as a yes. I'll suppose that this Wally that I've found while I've been probing your skull is a rival in those terms, isn't he?"

He didn't know what was worse. Her constant embarrassing questions or the fact that she could just as easily prod through his brain for any information she wanted. She apparently noticed this.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anybody else your thoughts. Just as long as you don't say anything about… you know."

He nodded; he knew exactly what she was talking about…

* * *

><p>Finally, here he was, waiting for his dad.<p>

"Look, I'd love to fight but I'm kind of," the older man halted upon seeing Jim. A massive grin grew across his face, "well, good to see you, son."

Jim was glad that he made his Dad proud for once, "Good to see you too, Dad. I'm finally going on a journey," he got out Canis and Domina, and Gladius leaped off of his shoulder, "and these are my current Pokémon, Gladius, Canis, and Domina."

"T-that's… great! So, why're you here, Jim?"

"To face you in a batt-"

Shaking his head, Norman interrupted, "Look, son, I know you're eager to battle me, but I'm sure you haven't even gotten a single badge. I'm the fifth gym leader of the region; you still have four to go! Well… you could maybe help out a local in catching his first Pokémon…"

"Hello… Jim." The voice said, laced with venom.

"Hi… Wally." Jim responded, "I thought you had your own Pokémon already, are you really just all talk and no walk?"

Glaring at Jim, Wally quickly responded, "Shut up. I'm here to catch a Pokémon, and under official orders of the Gym Leader, YOU are going to help me."

Obviously not amused, Jim gave in, knowing he wouldn't be let out until he did this for Wally.

* * *

><p>"You're a scumbag, you know that?"<p>

Wally shrugged; he was used to the term. "So what?"

"Just thought I'd let you and your snide ass know." Jim was pissed. What in the name of Arceus did this guy think he was, a fucking lord?

"I don't know what that busty chick sees in you. You're weak, simple-minded, and you are a terrible Pokémon Trainer. What DO you have? She, she has everything. She's smart, she's got a nice pair of… you know, she's nice, she could get anyone, like somebody who could treat her the way she deserves to be treated…"

"Oh shut the fuck up. You have no right to call me a terrible trainer unless you can do better." Jim was getting increasingly angrier, and at this point, Gladius was mirroring the actions of his Trainer. Gladius would've loved to evolve by now, and then maybe he could rip this asshole apart!

After more and more bickering, eventually, Wally caught a Ralts. A very flirty Ralts. She practically tried to hump Gladius, but he leaped quickly out of the way. Not much else interesting happened.

* * *

><p>After a quick departure from the Gym and plenty more arguing with the olive-haired asswipe known as Wally, the teen walked into the Pokémon Center, tired.<p>

"Hello Nurse Joy…"

"Welcome to our Pokémon Center! We can…"

Jim shook his head, "I know, I know. Please just heal my Pokémon. Also, could I get a room?"

The Nurse Joy blushed a bit, as always happened when they were asked to not say the whole introduction. It was mandatory for them to at least start giving it to every trainer, just in case a new one came by. Quickly handing the 3 Pokéballs to her Chansey, which then scurried off, Nurse Joy handed Jim a key to room 25, as well as a card for dinner and tomorrow's breakfast.

"Thanks."

Heading off towards the Cafeteria, Jim decided upon getting a burger and some fries. Hopefully that'd sate his hunger…

* * *

><p><em>Location: Petalburg Pokémon Center<em>

_Date: June 14__th__, 2035_

After waking up early, Jim got his Pokémon and got himself some bacon and pancakes, a few berries for Domina and Gladius, and three Grumpig sausages for Canis. After wolfing down their food, they departed for the next route – Route 103.

Domina went back into her Pokéball, as did Gladius, who was too tired to do too much work, or stay on top of Jim's rapidly moving shoulder. Canis instead stayed out, nipping at the grass and sniffing the air.

After a few strides through the tall grass on Route 103, Canis detected a scent. After following Canis's keen nose, the duo arrived at what appeared to be a sleeping Marill. Unfortunately, Canis was quite excited about finding his first Pokémon, and quickly commenced barking loudly in happiness.

"Rill? MARILL!"

"Gah! Canis, tackle the Marill!"

And with a quick bark of recognition, he leaped towards the bluish ball and smashed it with his full body weight. It went rolling for a short bit, before finally managing to stop itself. It didn't seem to want to fight too much, and practically leaped into the Pokéball.

After a quick trip back to the Pokémon Center to heal her up, Jim let her out of the ball. Domina also came out of her ball, as well as Gladius. The Aqua Mouse Pokémon smiled at them all, and started squeaking a bit.

"She says she's pleased to meet us all, and that she's glad that you aren't a vicious trainer like most she's seen. Her name seems to be… Unda? Yes, Unda." Domina said, translating for the young trainer. As smart as he might've been, he couldn't translate Pokémon speak.

"Thanks, Domina, it's a good thing you're with us. Also, welcome to the group, Unda! What do you like? Cheese?"

Nodding, Unda started talking to Domina, who relayed, "She specifically likes dry cheeses."

"Good to know. Well, let's get training, then we'll be off to Petalburg Woods!"

* * *

><p>After a few hours of pure training, Jim decided his Pokémon were sufficiently powerful to take on any threat they'd find in the Woods.<p>

Canis was again, outside his ball, with Gladius being on Jim's shoulder as always, occasionally making senseless babble towards Jim.

Canis was just sniffing the area around Jim, to find out if he was to be ambushed by any Zigzagoon or anything of the sort – it was his duty to protect his master, after all.

Jim noticed something in the distance. It was a round, oval-shaped Pokémon, and seemed to be excreting some sort of sticky fluid. It seemed to almost glow. It's exactly colour was not able to be seen at the moment. Jim walked near it.

"Wow! It's a… a…"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes: IT'S A CLIFF-HANGER!<strong>

**Third Chapter complete! Time to go through Petalburg Woods and fight the Gym Leader of Rustboro! So far, most of their levels are pretty low, but they're all near each other. It's a lot of fun.**

**Also, SORRY FOR THE LONG TIME BETWEEN UPDATES.**

**Anyways, a few questions for those who want to leave a review:**

**What Pokémon do you think is the one that Jim sees? Cascoon or Silcoon? **

**Why do you think Wally is such a jerk?**

**Is it possible for me to be any slower? **

**I'm not even going to be playing for a while, so don't expect an update soon :P  
><strong>

**Anyways…**

**Please Read and Review!**


	5. Chapter IV: Woody and Rusty

**Chapter IV: Woody and Rusty**

_Location: 1/8th of the way through Petalburg Woods_

_Date: June 14th, 2035_

"It's a fucking Silcoon!"

Canis just stared at it, his mouth agape. Immediately, he leaped over to lick it, like he does with everything unfamiliar to him. It seems to recoil, but was unable to move to far.

"Stop licking everything, Canis…" Jim sighed, not wanting to have Canis end up embarrassing him when something bad happens. "Well, anyways, come out Domina, I need you to tell me some things."

After a brief red flash of light, the small female Pokémon appeared, her serious attitude kicking in.

A short conversation between the whitish ball and the Feeling Pokémon resulted in a plethora of information for Jim – first of all, her name was Venustas, she didn't like battling, and she would love to join Jim.

"Alright, then, welcome to the club, Venustas!"

Domina smiled, and harshly asked, "Would it be okay if we… oh I don't know… ATE?"

Recoiling at the vicious tone, Jim responded, "Uh… okay… why not?"

After letting out all of his current Pokémon, he got them all of their respective foods, and a sandwich for himself.

* * *

><p>After the quick break, Jim started training all of his partners so that they could more effectively take down any foe they had to face…<p>

"Nice job, Gladius! Your pound attack is getting really damn fast!"

"Treecko Tree!"

"Yeah, I mean, I really didn't expect you to be able to…"

Jim was cut off by a shrill screech, emanating a short while from their position. He looked at Gladius, who stared back at him. The duo stared looking around the clearing. It certainly wasn't any wild Pokémon, and was definitely not anything natural. "Wha-what the hell was that?"

The Wood Gecko Pokémon just shrugged, and pointed the way that the sound came from. Jim just stared blankly at him. "What, you really want me to go towards the danger?"

Nodding, Gladius leaped back onto Jim's shoulder, and gestured again towards the sound. It was a dense mass of trees, but there was likely another clearing on the other side.

"Fine…"

* * *

><p>After a short walk, what Jim saw pissed him off. It was a guy who looked almost like a pirate, with some funky-ass symbol on his headwear and a barking Poochyena by his side, with which he was holding up… Nicole! Holy shit this guy had something nasty coming for him. He saw Blazy lying defenceless on the ground beside Nicole, obviously knocked out. Jim decided to wait a bit, he wanted to hear what this 'pirate' was going to say.<p>

The pirate sneered, "Hey babe. Well… looks like you're all alone and defenceless. Maybe it'd be a good idea to have a place to… oh I don't know… 'rest'. I'm sure my sleeping bag has plenty of room for the two of us!"

Nicole backed away slightly, and shook her head. "What do you want from me?"

"You silly little girl," the pirate responded, a cruel and evil smirk on his ugly mug, "isn't it obvious? I want you! Just a bit of fun time and I'll let you go off easy! It's really fucking simple!"

With a look of disgust on her face, she shook her head some more. She looked down to the ground, then back up to him, saying, "No. I will not allow you to do that!"

Jim decided that now was a good time to step in. Taking a deep breath, he yelled, "STOP!"

The pirate turned around, a disturbed look on his face. It quickly turned to one of anger. "Jax, go and gut the kid!"

His Poochyena barked loudly, and lunged towards Jim, who managed to narrowly dodge, leaving the Bite Pokémon to careen into a tree. Gladius leaped off of Jim's shoulder, and got ready to kick some serious ass.

"Gladius! Let's try out this new move you learned! QUICK ATTACK!"

Using powerful hind legs, the Grass-Type did a few quick lunges forward at a blinding speed, and delivered a nasty pound attack into the face on the somewhat dazed canine.

With a quick dash, the Poochyena returned the gesture with a damaging tackle, providing a small injury to the Treecko.

"Alright, Gladius, let's get you fixed up! Absorb, now!"

After a quick nod, a massive amount of yellowish orbs flowed like a river from the rapidly weakening body of the Poochyena, and exploded upon contact with Gladius, resulting in his minor injuries being fixed nearly instantly.

"No, JAX!" the pirate screamed in terror. He didn't expect to lose.

"Don't even try to get away!" Jim said, closing the distance between him and the pirate and delivering a swift punch to the nose. A resounding crack was heard.

As if he was a pile of bricks, the guy hit the ground. "Don't hurt me! Please oh please don't hurt me! I'll tell you anything you want to know. ANYTHING!" he cried, in pain.

"Who are you affiliated with, you scoundrel?"

"T-t-t-Team Aqua! Look, don't hurt me, I promise I won't do anything I'll head out and I won't ever do anything like this again just let me go and I really mean it I don't want to die I have too long to- OOF"

A swift kick to the gut silenced him. Looking at him harshly, Jim said, "For a start – shut the fuck up. Second of all, I want you to give me all the Pokéballs you have, and I never want to see you again."

"Done, done, and done!" the Team Aqua grunt said, handing over a great ball. "T-thanks sir, I swear I will do nothing but good from now on. G-g-goodbye!"

Jim suddenly felt a pair of arms thrown around him, and some sobbing into his back. "Thanks… I… don't want to think about what would've happened…"

Turning around, Jim hugged Nicole, who was still sobbing into his red vest. He was glad it was waterproof. He looked down at the girl with a bit of pity. She was, after all, nearly stripped of her innocence. "Don't worry, Nicole, it'll be okay. How about we go through the rest of the woods together!"

She looked up, her eyes lightening. She smiled, and nodded. Jim was happy that she wasn't all gloomy anymore, but he was sure that she wouldn't have any fond memories of what nearly happened…

* * *

><p><em>Location: Exit of Petalburg Woods<em>

_Date: June 19th, 2035_

After a lot of time was taken traversing the forest, fighting idiot trainers, sleeping, eating, and grinding to improve the skills of their Pokémon, the duo finally approached the exit.

"Well, here we are." Jim stated bluntly, looking around at the large body of water with the long bridge going across it.

Nicole was a little too busy inspecting her newly caught Lotad's Pokéball to notice. After a bit, she finally looked towards Jim, asking, "What'd you say?"

Sighing, Jim replied, "I said that we are finally out of that damn forest." He smiled towards her, with Gladius gleefully resting on his shoulder and Domina lazing around on the ground. Suddenly…

"TAILLOW TAILLOW TAILLOW!" The Tiny Swallow Pokémon was quite angry at Jim for some stupid reason he didn't care to find out. Before he could even utter a command, he noticed a faint pink outline surrounding the Taillow, before it was sent into a spiral of pure confusion.

Nicole stared at the now spinning Taillow, and started laughing really hard. "What is that thing even doing?"

Jim, with a disturbed look on his face, quickly answered, "I… really don't know…"

Domina, on the other hand, did in fact know what the matter was. Shaking her head, she explained, "You see, this Taillow, 'Aer' thought that you had stolen an Oran Berry for… whatever reason, and started getting angry at you. I confused it by screwing around its small little mind, and now it's convinced that the ground is in a conspiracy against it."

Nicole was still laughing her ass off, and Jim was just staring blankly at the Taillow. He finally managed to utter, "You… are really… really… special… Aer. Might as well capture you, you'll be my only flying type." At the last comment, Venustas got out of her Pokéball and immediately hissed. Noting the anger, he quickly continued, "The only one at the current moment, I mean."

After some more training, and some battles, Jim, Nicole, and Gladius arrived at the City's Entrance – the city being Rustboro!

"How about we go and… get something to… eat!" Nicole stated rather abruptly.

Jim smiled at her, bringing a faint blush to her pale cheeks, "Why not?"

* * *

><p>Jim and Nicole were at a diner near the center of the city, discussing the plans they had before Jim went off and challenged the gym. Nicole was eating a Taurosburger with some french fries and a soda to go along with it, and Jim was having a Tepig bacon cheeseburger with some fries and a glass of lemonade.<p>

"So, Nicole, what're you planning on doing after you watch me get the Gym badge?" Jim inquired.

Nicole just smiled, and replied, "Well, I'll travel with you, I guess. I'll probably go off on my own once we reach Mauville though."

A bit unhappy about her having to leave eventually, at least she was staying with him for a while. "So, what're we going to do before I go to the Gym?"

Smiling devilishly, Nicole responded, "Well, first, we have to go shopping-"

Jim's eyes grew to the size of bowling balls. "What?"

"Oh calm down, I just need to get some clothes, including some shirts, shorts," she started babbling on about various clothes, before finally catching Jim's ears with the last entry, "a few bikinis."

Jim's solemn expression grew bright, and he nodded, "Okay, I'm fine with that. How about we go to the Pokémart after that, okay?"

Nicole merely nodded, before returning to her burger. Jim did the same, not wanting to be beaten by a girl in terms of eating prowess.

* * *

><p>He didn't know what was worse torture, the fact that she was making him carry all of her bags filled with things he really didn't care the slightest about, or the fact that whenever she did try on a bikini, she'd love to pick the ones that left very little to the imagination. And then essentially tease him. It was great, yet horrible at the same time. So close, yet so Arceus-damned far away.<p>

When they (see: Nicole) finally stopped shopping for meaningless crap like clothing and bikinis for Nicole, the two decided to go and reserve their rooms. This was a relatively bad idea to do as a group, so they ended up getting their own separate rooms to prevent any awkwardness. After the reservations were made and Nicole dropped off her shopping, the duo went back towards the city center to get Jim's stuff – Potions and Pokéballs, and a few other things.

After fully stocking up on all the required gear, and a bit of food in his system, Jim and Nicole finally went back to the Pokémon Center, and went to their rooms, ready to sleep like Ursaring.

* * *

><p><em>Location: Rustboro City<em>

_Date: June 20th, 2035_

After the two met for breakfast, they set off for the last location Jim was planning to go to prior to challenging Roxanne – Route 116, directly east of Rustboro.

On their way there, Jim decided to make some small talk. He looked at her, asking, "So, Nicole, have you recently caught any Pokémon?"

Nodding, she grabbed a ball off of her belt and let out a small little blue thing with a lily pad on top of it, and a yellowish thing on its face.

It looked up at Jim and smiled, "TAD LOTAD!"

Nicole, smiling at her little Lotad, she stated, "His name is Señor Nenúfar, he's quite the funny little guy. I hate it when he sprays me with a water gun though. Isn't that right Nenúfar?"

The little Water Weed Pokémon blushed in embarrassment, and contemplated squirting her at this very moment, but considering the fact that the Treecko on Jim's shoulder was giving it a death glare, he decided to let it pass. Nicole quickly returned him to his Pokéball, and smiled back and Jim.

Smirking towards Gladius, Jim redirected his attention toward Nicole. "So… is Littleroot your hometown?"

"Yeah," she answered, "lived there my whole life."

Jim nodded, and the two proceeded to chat about various topics, none important or particularly interesting. After the long walk out of the large city, the duo finally came upon the entrance to the route: a large area without a gate.

Flashing a smile Nicole's way, resulting in a light blush coming to her face, Jim brought out Aer the Taillow, for helping him find a good Pokémon. The bird was frantically pecking at a random blade of grass, until it was thoroughly shredded by its beak, then repeating ad infinitum.

Shaking his head in the sheer failure of a Pokémon that he'd caught, he quickly got its attention. "AER!" It's head snapped up, wings still flapping, with it's small round head slightly tilting in confusion. Why'd he interrupt it from the purging of these foul blades of grass? It was a noble cause! Those blades of grass were surely going to maim somebody or- "PAY SOME DAMN ATTENTION!"

Nicole couldn't hold back a laugh. Slightly embarrassed, Jim narrowed his eyes towards Aer, ordering, "Okay, I want you to find a Pokémon, any Pokémon, just one that doesn't look like any of mine. Okay?"

Nodding its head in what Jim hoped to be understanding, but more likely just it being a ditz.

* * *

><p>After a short while, and a bit of walking, Aer finally came back, with the report of an enemy! A foul creepy disgusting idiotic antagonistic-<p>

"Just say what the hell it was, Aer!" Domina was obviously displeased. She hated how Aer would always go on and on and on.

Looking back up at Jim, Domina said, "She appears to have found a Nincada."

"Like that one over there?"

Domina dashed behind Jim, wanting to not get hit by a super-effective 'Leech Life' attack.

Gladius, always eager to be the metaphorical 'Knight in Shining Armour' leaped off of Jim's shoulder, and prepared for a battle. He was starting to get a lot tougher. His arms were growing small buds on their undersides, his tail was starting to split a bit, and a bud was forming on his head.

The Nincada, on the other hand, was utterly uninterested in battling, and was jovially dancing around, walking up to Gladius and…

Domina looked out from behind Jim's leg. She was utterly confused. "Are they really… Square Dancing?" Domina shook her head in disbelief, and then thought some dirty yaoi thoughts. Nothing you'd want to see or hear, I assure you.

"You do realize you're still projecting your thoughts to me, right?" Jim stated flatly, with a greenish tinge to his face.

Nicole was confused. She opted to say nothing.

Domina, on the other hand, was extremely embarrassed. "Uh… whoops! Just… just catch him or something please? So I can put this behind me. It's not my fault that I like the idea of…"

"Oh dear Arceus just shut up already."

And so, a new member was added to the party!

* * *

><p>"Uh, welcome to the group, Sonitus!"<p>

Nicole nodded in agreement, smiling at the Jolly little Nincada. It was leaping about and dancing, as usual. It seemed to love leaping around in circles.

Domina, slightly hesitant whilst nearby the deadly bug type, started translating the otherwise meaningless chatter. "Hello, I am a Nincada; Sonitus is my given name, yes? I enjoy various hobbies such as dancing, singing, smoking a pipe, and wearing classy monocles. You wouldn't happen to have a monocle, would you? Or something similar to one?"

Jim shook his head. Why would he be carrying a monocle?

Domina continued her translation, "Ah well, would you at least try to get me one as soon as possible?"

"Sure," Jim responded, still relatively confused as to why a Nincada needed a monocle. Jim shrugged, and decided to train his Pokémon a bit, with Nicole also training a bit.

* * *

><p>After a vigorous amount of training, the duo went to the Pokémon Center, healing up all their Pokemon, with Aer being put away in a box, so as to make room for Sonitus. They then walked towards the Rustboro Rock Gym, and Jim was about to enter, when…<p>

*SLAM!*

Door and face typically hurt, as Jim found out at that moment. Out the door frame came a very familiar and very unwanted face – _Wally_.

"Oh, looks like I hit you, Jimmy. Are you going in to get destroyed by the Rock-Types? Or are you just going in to watch like the pathetic excuse of a trainer that you are."

Jim was pissed, "Actually, I was planning on winning," he got to his feet, "now if you'll excuse me, I've got a gym battle to win!"

Rushing inwards, Nicole was still a bit startled at the situation that just happened before her.

"Hey beautiful. Why are you traveling with that idiot?"

Nicole furrowed her brow – what was his problem? She responded, "Because I… I want to learn from him!" She noticed his eyes drift around, not quite focused on her face. As such, he now had a large red mark on the left side of his face. "You do realize my face is up here, right?"

Wally snickered, "Sorry, not my fault you've got a nice body. I do believe we met before, Nicole, isn't it?"

Turning her head away, she uttered softly in affirmation.

"Then I still don't see why the distinguished daughter of the Professor would go and travel around with an idiot who has trouble tying his own shoelaces."

Nicole, not wanting to answer, simply rushed inside. She did want to get this gym battle over with, so she could try out her new bikinis…

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes: The Gym Battle will be an entirely separate chapter, just for note. All gyms will be like that.<strong>

**Sorry that I lied, and that this was late. I tried, but got busy and stuff.**

**Now, for some questions:**

**1. Where will Wally appear next? (Note, it may or may not be the next gym)**

**2. What will that bastard Team Aqua member do?**

**3. Do you think I'm too slow to write?**

**Also, this is officially the longest chapter, almost 50% longer than the others!**

**Please Read and Review!**


	6. Chapter V: Rockhard Gym Battle!

**Chapter V: Rock-hard Gym Battle!**

_Location: Rustboro Gym_

_Date: June 20th, 2035_

Gladius was ready for his upcoming challenge. He couldn't help but notice that he was starting to change, though. The buds that were growing on his arms now were a lot larger than before. His skin was becoming a deeper green. A bud was growing on his head. His tail was starting to split. He was currently standing on Jim's shoulder, awaiting the battle.

Nicole sat down on a nearby bench, as did the rest of Jim's team: Domina, Canis, Sonitus, Aer, and Unda.

Jim walked up to the drawn out arena, and stepped into the Trainer's Square. Gladius leaped off of his shoulder, ready to prove his worth.

"I, Jim Ironwood, challenge you to a gym battle, Roxanne!"

The brunette gym leader swiftly stepped out. She smirked, "So, you're the challenger, are you?"

Jim merely nodded.

She had a bit of an inquisitive look on her face, but quickly gained a look of realization. She inquired, "Is that girl your girlfriend?"

Jim turned a reddish hue, with Gladius smirking back at him. "N-n-no we're not together or anything we're just friends you know?" he rushed, too embarrassed to formulate a good sentence structure.

Nicole, being a similar colour, shook her head rapidly.

"Ah, sorry, just figured you two looked like you were together. Anyways, if it's a gym battle you want, it's a gym battle you'll get!"

* * *

><p><strong>GYM BATTLE<strong>

**VS. ROXANNE**

* * *

><p>"Go! Geodude! Let's start off with a tackle!"<p>

Gladius quickly responded with a nasty glare, and a last minute dodge.

"Gladius, absorb the energy from Geodude and convert its health into your own!"

Gladius, moving his hands around in a fancy manner, started making greenish orbs come out of Geodude at a constant rate. Geodude deftly responded with a swift punch to the forehead.

The energy was still being absorbed, although not nearly at the same rate as before. He still hadn't converted any of the orbs into life yet, but he was going to upon a moment's command. He'd rather absorb all the life at once than as piece meal.

Geodude, looking a lot weaker, finally decided to close in for what he would hope to be a deadly tackle.

"Gladius! Use quick attack to dodge, and use pound!"

One blink Gladius was there, the next he wasn't. Missing by a long shot, Geodude careened into the ground, and Gladius, still absorbing, delivered the finishing blow – a powerful smack with his tail.

Gladius smiled at his victory, and detonated the green orbs in a blue sparkle, with the individual droplets concentrating into a powerful energy that re-invigorated the once tired Wood Gecko Pokémon.

Roxanne smiled, "Not bad, but I've got more from where that came from! Geodude! Let's go!"

Gladius prepared himself for a similar opponent, but was instead met with a far different looking Rock Pokémon. It had sharp claws instead, and what seemed to be a lot less bulk.

With a resounding smack, Gladius quickly found that this opponent would be a lot harder than the last one. The Treecko was never one to expect such a heavy rock to move so damn fast.

"So, this one's a little faster than the other… Ah hell just absorb his energy!" Jim ordered, confident in Gladius's abilities.

Roxanne smirked, ordering, "In that case, Geodude, smash that Treecko!"

Gladius was barely able to dodge the rapid movements of the Geodude. He somehow managed, but not without an occasional smack. He was having trouble absorbing and dodging. At least one good thing was coming out of it – he was starting to heal his wounds at a faster rate than the Geodude could hit him, and the fact that the Rock Pokémon is particularly weak to grass-type moves made this even easier.

Geodude, however, was in a particularly bad position – he was too low on energy to catch up, and he wasn't particularly keen on getting more energy absorbed out of his rock-hard body.

"Geodude! Use Rock Tomb!"

Jim's eyes widened. If Gladius was caught in that, he might be too slow to retreat, and take a significant amount more damage.

A number of rocks went flying from the heavens to crash upon Gladius, to slow his movement.

Jim's mind started working… How would he… Suddenly, seeing one of the orbs that held Geodude's energy exploding, he got an idea.

"Gladius! Absorb as many of those orbs as you need to, and detonate them against the rocks to remove them from your general vicinity!"

Gladius nodded, detonating about half of the orbs, and sending the rest up to change the flight paths of the various stones that would hit him dead on.

Geodude wasn't prepared for a miss, and put too much of his energy into the attack. He was too tired to do anything else.

The Wood Gecko Pokémon, taking note of his chance, launched himself into a quick attack, smacking Geodude very hard. He was out, cold.

"Heh, looks like Gladius is nice and full on health, and your Pokémon are down to one!" Jim gloated, sure of himself.

Roxanne furrowed her brow, returning the Rock/Ground Pokémon. She replied, "You may think this is over, but you still haven't seen anything yet! Go, NOSEPASS!"

The large blue rock thing came out of its ball in a red flash, its vibrant red nose looking absolutely silly.

"Tree… Cko?"

Jim was as confused as Gladius, it wasn't exactly a… normal Pokémon, by any means. Looking it up in his Pokédex, he discovered that it is a single-type Rock Pokémon. He didn't pay too much attention to the other frivolous details, like potential movesets and the like.

Gladius took one look at Jim, nodded, and started absorbing energy from Nosepass. However, he didn't even seem slightly fazed!

"Nosepass! Rock Tomb!"

Gladius panicked, and did a similar strategy to before, but was surprised when the rocks quickly got back on course!

With a resounding thud, the Wood Gecko Pokémon was covered in rocks, bleeding in a few places and unable to move as fast. Shaking it off, Gladius kept on absorbing energy, healing his wounds in the process.

But Nosepass was not one who would let an opponent get such an easy win. Not wanting his foe to escape, the Compass Pokémon used a move called 'Block', creating a massive blockade of rocks to prevent Gladius from switching out.

Although the damage wasn't much, it seemed to be sufficient for Gladius to win, or so he thought.

"Gladius, try harder to absorb faster! That way it will…" Jim trailed off as he saw the orbs stop coming out of Nosepass. Jim resumed, "Uh… Gladius, use absorb!"

Gladius, shaking his head, said, "Tree-treecko-tree-tree!", which was roughly translated by Domina as, 'I can't do it, I have not enough energy to do that!'

This was bad. Bad indeed. "Alright then, fine, use a quick attack to harm it while keeping your speed up, okay?"

Nodding, the green starter launched himself Nosepass-ward, scoring a hit, but quickly getting damaged by some rocks dislodged from the ceiling by the foe.

The battle was a bitter game of cat and mouse, with neither side getting the advantage. Nosepass was too durable to be hurt enough, and Gladius was too fast to be hurt at all.

Nosepass, however, thought it'd test its luck. Using what would normally be a risky manoeuvre, it thought that using an 'X Accuracy' powder would help it hit more. So, launching a flurry of rocks at Gladius to keep him occupied, the Rock-Type quickly waddled over to Roxanne to whiff up some powder.

Jim didn't see an obstacle – he saw a solution. "Gladius! Use pound on those rocks to shoot them back towards Nosepass!"

Gladius was slightly confused why he would do that, but complied regardless. Spinning rapidly, Gladius was hitting the rocks back at a breakneck pace, pelting Nosepass with a large amount of rocky projectiles.

It didn't expect one to hit it right in the back of the head.

Stunned and shaken, it, for whatever reason, was trying to run.

Gladius felt a burst of pure adrenaline. A burst unlike anything he had ever had. His arms were starting to hurt, but a different pain than normal – an inner pain. So was his head, as was his tail. Shaking off any silly notions, he started what he thought would be a normal leap and pound combo. But… something told him to do it differently – and so he did.

Drastically increasing in speed, the Treecko seemed to almost glow with dark energy as he rocketed forward in a devastating attack, known as a 'Pursuit'. Hitting the fleeing Nosepass squarely on the back of the head, it hit the ground with a resounding thud.

Roxanne couldn't believe it. She had lost. Shaking her head, she sucked up her anger, and took out the badge, walking towards Jim.

Jim's eyes, however, weren't focused on Roxanne at all – they were instead focused on Gladius.

He started glowing greenish, and was growing rapidly! His body was becoming longer, as were his arms and legs. His tail had split into two separate leaf-like appendages. His head grew a large leaf. His arms now had three sharp leaf blades each. His head became more elongated. He was deeper green in colour.

"Grovyle!"

Jim was flabbergasted! "Y-you evolved, Gladius!"

In his happiness, Gladius forgot the weight difference between a Treecko and a Grovyle, and decided to leap towards what was his usual perch – Jim's shoulder.

"Gah! Get off of me!"

Roxanne started laughing, as did Nicole.

Roxanne held the badge right in front of the now downed Jim, as well as a TM. After a long speech, Jim smirked, putting the badge in it's case, and setting off out of the gym.

Today... was a good day…

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Notes: I'm sorry I'm slow. Skyrim happened.<strong>

**Nothing much else to say…**

**Also, I'm sorry this is short – my battle scenes never turn out too long.**

**Please Read and Review!**


End file.
